Upon hearing that Keith Richards was writing a biography, my first thought was, “Wow, how can he even remember what happened, given his proclivity for illicit drug use and all-around hell raising?” Now, having finished the book, I am even more amazed at the vividness of his recollections. Everything is there that you would expect, including the requisite sex, drugs and rock and roll. But it’s the unexpected things in Life that enrich the reader’s experience and provide a genuine sense of historical context about how the The Rolling Stones thrived in the midst of such a socially volatile time.

Every man dreams of being in Keith Richards’ shoes at one point or another. After all, this man is the archetypal rock star: living a life of excess, denying himself no pleasure, and keeping the world perpetually at his fingertips. In recent years, Richards has become a pop culture caricature — a Hollywood pirate, an old dude who should have croaked years ago, the crazy guy who snorted his father’s ashes. There’s a degree of truth to all of those characterizations, but if Life is any indication, the man is much more than that. Continue reading…